


Handprints

by EternalSurvivor



Series: Naruto Rare Pairs [20]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Pre-Relationship, ShikaNaru Weekend 2020, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalSurvivor/pseuds/EternalSurvivor
Summary: There was a handprint on his back. No, a soulmark, and Shikamaru Nara knew exactly who gave it to him.Naruto Uzumaki.What a drag.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Naruto Rare Pairs [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417702
Comments: 24
Kudos: 635
Collections: ShikaNaru Weekend 2020





	Handprints

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second one-shot submission for the ShikaNaru Weekend 2020 event over on tumblr for the day two prompt: Soulmates AU. I am a few days late but I liked how this turned out. So here ya'll go. My second take on Shikamaru and Naruto as soulmates.
> 
> Enjoy~<3

There was a handprint on his back.

He thought Asuma-sensei was being a smartass when he first pointed it out. But nope, there it was. A full, brightly fluorescent orange handprint right between his shoulder blades. For a moment, all Shikamaru could do was stare at his reflection in the lake. Twisting to see the confounded mark wasn’t easy, but he put in the effort.

What a drag. 

The concept of soulmates always seemed too troublesome to bother with. The first time a person's supposed  _ other half _ touched their skin, it would leave a permanent mark. 

A soulmark. 

And there was his, a full, chubby handprint -fingers splayed wide across his skin. A closer inspection revealed even the callouses and whorls along the fingers were included. It was a perfect replica of his soulmate’s hand.

He knew exactly who that was.

_ Naruto Uzumaki. _

Even if he wasn’t smart enough to figure it out for himself, the attention-grabbing orange gave it away. What an eyesore. He’d never be able to go without his vest again. 

(If Asuma-sensei didn’t stop chuckling, Shikamaru would have to take a page from his soulmate’s handbook and find some  _ less enjoyable  _ places to stuff his teacher’s cigarettes.)

Tugging his shirt back into place, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. He had to take care of this now before word got out. Asuma-sensei told everything to Kurenai-sensei and she  _ loved  _ to gossip with the other kunoichi. “This is so damn troublesome.” 

“Take the afternoon, I’ll let Ino and Chouji know something came up.” Asuma’s own soulmate mark was dainty, pink fingers wrapped around his hand. It’d be cute if it wasn’t so romantically cheesy. That was the sort of thing Ino gushed over. She’d done just that when they first spotted matching, navy fingers on Kurenai-sensei’s own hand. 

“Yeah, thanks.” He was never going to live this down. 

Shoving his hands into his pants’ pockets, Shikamaru turned towards the most likely place he’d find his brand-new soulmate. 

Ichiraku Ramen. 

It was a quiet, lazy Sunday. With so few people out and about in the usually bustling village, Shikamaru was able to let his mind wander while he walked. 

Pinpointing exactly when he received his soulmark wasn’t difficult. This summer was particularly hot. The rookies had, somehow, fallen into a habit of playing around in the Naka river to cool off. Along the way, Team Gai started joining in as well. 

After Sasuke’s defection and their botched attempt to bring him home, it was a nice morale boost. Sometimes, it could be a real drag though. Naruto, Kiba and Lee could only be kept in one spot for so long before all hell broke loose. Ino and Sakura were no better when their petty rivalry reared its ugly head. 

Last time they all got together, Kiba and Naruto started daring the others to cannonball off the waterfall. Much to Shikamaru’s chagrin,  _ everyone _ rose to the occasion. 

Everyone but him that is. 

That was how he ended up with an encouraging  _ pat _ on the back from Naruto. 

Who was he kidding? Naruto thumped him so hard, he lost his balance and belly-flopped right into the damn river. It was the chunin exams all over again. Only instead of a promotion, this time he came out with a bright orange soulmark. 

“Oi, Shikamaru! Come get some ramen!!”    
  
Shikamaru broke from his thoughts to the image of his soulmate leaning dangerously far off his stool and waving like a fool. Both hands in the air, ramen noodles hanging down his chin, and mouth stuffed so full his cheeks puffed out like a demented chipmunk. It took all his willpower not to snort. Okay, that was kind of cute. 

Shrugging, Shikamaru slid onto the vacant stool next to Naruto. “Sure, why not?”    
  
“Hey, Teuchi! We need another bowl of tonkotsu ramen with some chashu and negi over here for Shika! Add an extra egg to it on me!”    
  
“Naruto, I hate boiled eggs.”   
  
The blond smacked a closed fist into his open palm. “Shoot right, I forgot. Make that some mackerel kamaboko instead,” he called to Teuchi. “Those weird little fishes are your favourite, right Shika?” 

Shikamaru blinked at his friend, genuinely surprised by this unexpected turn. “Uh, yeah they are, but why’d you bother remembering that?” He was pretty dang sure Naruto didn’t remember Sakura or Sasuke’s favourite foods. 

The blond glanced over at him blankly, like  _ Shikamaru _ was the numbskull with the attention span of a guppy. “Come on, Shika, you gotta know these kinda things about your soulmate. Sakura-chan says it’s like a rule, ya know.” 

The entire world screeched to a grinding halt around him as Shikamaru’s brain abruptly short-circuited. “...What?” 

Naruto’s eyes narrowed into a suspicious squint. “Soulmates,” he repeated. “You’re mine so Sakura-chan said I’ve gotta take the time to learn these things or she’ll knock me into the straddlesphere.” 

“Stratosphere,” Shikamaru corrected automatically.   
  
“Yeah, that!” Completely unaware of the inner turmoil he'd just thrown the other boy into, Naruto just grinned and shovelled more ramen into his mouth. 

Shikamaru swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. His mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to come up with something to say. In the end, all he got was a very strained, "you already knew?" 

"Yup!" Finishing his ramen in one massive gulp, Naruto pushed his bowl aside and yanked up his shirt sleeve. There, in a perfect ring of Nara green around his wrist, was a hand impression. "I thought I got poisoned on a mission again or something," the blond barrelled directly into an explanation. "But Kakashi-sensei said it was a soulmark. He's real smart like you are so he'd know. Mine's not bright green like his is, but that's okay. I like yours better anyway." 

Shikamaru's mind instantly started replaying every interaction he'd had with Naruto in the last few months, trying to pinpoint exactly when he'd grabbed the blond to give him that mark- 

_ Oh. _

"The mission…" 

Naruto turned that brilliant grin onto Shikamaru and his heart skipped a beat. "Yeah! That creepy dude with all the arms attacked me and you yanked me out of the way just in time. It was all cool and stuff." 

That was right.  _Kidomaru,_ the one Neji almost died trying to take out. Even thinking about the creep now made his skin crawl. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

Naruto swivelled on his stool but just shrugged. "Iruka-sensei told me once that _'g_ _ ood things come to those who wait' _ . So, I waited cause you're my soulmate and that's the best thing ever, Shika!"

Shikamaru's cheeks flushed softly. That kind of logic was so uniquely and utterly  _ Naruto,  _ he couldn't find an argument against it. This was going to be so damn troublesome, but looking at Naruto's smile, he couldn't help but think that was alright. His soulmate was worth it. "So you're okay with this?" 

"I mean, I was a little bummed at first that my soulmate wasn't Sakura-chan, but Iruka-sensei helped me see you're just as awesome! You have all those big brains up here," he tapped his own head in demonstration, "and I need someone who's good at the smart stuff for when I become Hokage. Iruka-sensei said there's no one better to have my back than my soulmate and he's always right, ya know?" 

"Uh, yeah, sure." Shikamaru didn't know about  _ always _ but it would do no good to tell Naruto that. 

Naruto grinned all the brighter and pushed Shikamaru's untouched bowl of ramen closer to him. "Eat up before it gets cold!" 

"Troublesome…" 

Naruto's grin turned sly. "If you don't want it, I can eat it-"

Shikamaru playfully swatted Naruto's fingers away. "Tough luck. This is the first thing my  _ soulmate _ bought for me and I plan to enjoy every bite." 


End file.
